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We all have different perspectives and thoughts, so I asked my friend Appio to sit and have a cup of coffee with me .Before we met; we had been discussing the fact that not all coaches are the same. Not all styles of coaching will resonate with everyone. I am a laid back down to earth kind of person that doesn’t like to get all fired up and “gungho” like many of the coaches and trainers you might find in a gym for example.

My friend Appio is more of a busy action happy kind of coach that is for the most part like the trainer at the gym. I found that as we all have our own learning styles and we all have different ways that we are motivated it would be nice to share another perspective with those who read my posts. It is my intent to inspire, incite and evoke positive change from within so that we may all achieve a state or at least the desire to achieve a state of human excellence in our world.

Good Morning, I would like to introduce you to a great friend, his name is Appio Hunter.

Appio is a “Happiness Coach” & Certified “Infinite Possibilities Trainer” the first thing that came to my mind when Appio handed me his card was ”What is a Happiness Coach” So to start the interview that was my first Question…
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Joe: “Appio just out of curiosity what is a happiness coach and why did you choose that title?”
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Appio:” I have felt since I was about 5 years old that my life’s purpose was to help people be happy. There is an epidemic of sadness and depression in our society, I have found and it is known that just hearing the word “Happy” brings about a state of happiness.”
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Joe: “Awesome, I am curious, why did you mention sadness and depression? It seems unusual that as a happiness coach you would mention their opposites.”
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Appio:” I have had a life long battle with depression and the thought process. For me it is a medical condition, I have a chemical imbalance that causes me to feel sad and depressed. I was prescribed drugs in my earlier years that would take bring relief from the depression yet they would also make me feel like a zombie of sorts. If that makes sense, I didn’t like the feeling the drugs produced anymore than I liked the effects of the depression I felt. I slowly weaned myself off of those drugs and have not taken them in many years. “
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Joe: “Interesting I have heard that from many people that have that same condition. I am curious as to what is your secret to overcoming or controlling your condition?”
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Appio: The life changer for me, my secret was discovering the works of “Mike Dooley” his books and quotes. I started getting his e mails “Notes from the Universe” they were quite inspirational. One day at the bottom of one of those notes was a note… It basically said become an Infinite Possibilities Trainer” I took the course and was so inspired I took it to the next level. I am a member of the LGTB Community and a member of the Gay writes writing group. There is a need for positive inspiration, some of the members of the writing group were in their own battles of depression. The next level of becoming a “Trailblazer” required becoming a teacher of the skills learned as a trainer by giving back, providing a service to the community. Within one month of finishing the course I had met the requirements to become a “Trailblazer.” I had taught and coached over six members of the community the skills and shared the tools of how to recognize and change their thought patterns.”
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Joe:” If you could what would be the most important things you would share with me and the readers of my blog?”
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Appio:” Happiness surrounds us, and it is always there for us to reach out and claim for our own. If we’re feeling sad, miserable, or depressed, it’s okay. Those feelings will pass as long as we acknowledge them and let them flow. We’re not here to be tried, sentenced, judged, and punished. We’re here to laugh, love, thrive, be happy, and have fun.”
Don’t ignore or try to suppress your feelings. You only feel worse if you do. Instead, acknowledge how you feel and then let yourself feel whatever it is you want to feel. Emotions are supposed to flow, so let them flow.
Your best friend when feeling sad or depressed is distraction. When you can’t seem to get rid of negative thoughts, distract yourself by flipping the thought around to its exact opposite. You can also make a gratitude list, and then supercharge your gratitude by celebrating everything on that list.
When nothing else works, just move into gratitude.
If you can learn to be grateful for the “bad” things that happen, you’ll discover that even the bad things can be something good.”
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Joe: “Thank you Appio, that is some pretty awesome advice and wisdom you chose to share. How much do I owe you? Lol, lets get a refill and have some cake!
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Look for Appio’s new book to be released in late November The Power of G: Unforgettable Lessons on How Gratitude Can Transform Your Life! By Appio Hunter
You can also find out more about him or his services here on his websites and I hope you will…http://www.AppioHunter.comhttp://www.ReflectionsOnReality.com

Thank you all for being you, you are all amazing and awesome human beings. I am quite honored to share time and space with you all, together we are changing our world in a positive way as we share our love and our smiles, we are making it a better place for all we share it with! :)
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Namaste

I thought I might share a tool from the old toolbox as it may help someone in a way that they need right now. The largest obstacle for most people I have been chatting with and my mentoring clients is one I also had issue with… Identity, “who am I” we at various points in time ask ourselves that question. The answer is not always what we want to hear. Why? Well we are conditioned and have built a definition based on that conditioning and how we are feeling about ourselves. In truth there are many factors that lead to our answers.
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I would like to share a tool that will help you as you search for the answer to that question. It is an empowerment tool that over many years has been used and developed to assist us in learning to claim our personal power and begin the process of learning who we are and build a new base to start from as we move forward in our personal journeys. I would say that it is one of the most effective beginner tools and is easy to use. Using it as I am suggesting twice a day for a month while adjusting it as necessary will change your life in a very positive way. It will also begin the reprogramming of your subconscious mind eliminating limiting beliefs and negative patterns of thinking about yourself to positive beliefs and patterns that empower you to move forward with confidence and self love.
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The tool is called “Declaration” and is a tool that you create and has two parts that you apply in a verbal and visual way that is so simple yet so powerful.

Part one
Step one; take a sheet of paper and fold it in half, on the right hand side at the top of the sheet write the word negative, on the left hand side write the word positive.
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Step two; on the right hand side of the page write down the first five negative things that people have said or that negative voice says about you in your head. Do not use I am statements remember this is the voice not your inner being, don’t accept the label!
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Step three; on the left hand side of the page write the five opposites to the negatives you wrote on the rights side of the page and with each opposite add a positive statement about your physical being. Use I am statements claim your power!
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EXAMPLE;
Positive …………………………………………….. Negative
I am Fearless and I have an awesome smile!……………………. You are too scared
I am Intelligent and I am healthy ………………………….. You are stupid
I am worthy and I am sexy …………………………….You don’t deserve that car
I am capable of doing anything I set my mind to………………You are not good enough
And I am strong
I am intuitive and a chunk of man candy ….you are a dreamer and make stuff up
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Part Two:
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Step one; tear the sheet in half set the negative side aside…
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Step two: Take the positive list and read it aloud three times, do this at least twice a day once in the morning and once in the evening. The more you read it the deeper and faster the process.
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The first time you read it read it in your normal voice out loud, then read it in a loud voice a “Galactic or Epic” voice raise your arms while you read it this way declare it to the Universe the third time your say it say it in a soft gentle and reverent voice. Remember it is important to read the list out loud at least three times in three different levels of voice.. Read it silently rather than Galactic if that makes you uncomfortable yet mouth the words. The Galactic is preferred for its movement of energy and the chemical reaction it produces in your body… Everything is energy and moving energy is momentum, the tool is a too, that establishes momentum and personal empowerment.
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Step three; take the negative side and… WAD IT UP AND STAMP ON IT, BURN IT, THROW IT AWAY, FLUSH IT, DOUBLE STAMP IT WITH BOTH FEET do whatever makes you happy as you let it be known that you are not that!
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I hope you may have found this post useful, perhaps you don’t need this kind of tool you may however know someone that is in a rough place with a loss of confidence feeling beat up and labeled. You can share a few minutes and help them create a Declaration tool that will help them empower themselves and begin changing their lives in a positive way!
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Thank you for sharing your time with me and taking the time to read this post. You are awesome and I am grateful for your presence. I woulds also like to say thank you for being the positive change our world so needs as you share your love and your smiles making our world a better place for all we share it with. 
Namaste!

I believe we have all heard the expression that” we are afraid of our own power “and that limits many from looking within themselves to find and be who they are. I would like to share an observation from my recent experiences that says otherwise. Not that the expression of being afraid of our own power isn’t true, it may be we are afraid to see what is inside of us for another reason.
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A few people have asked me recently how to find who they are or getting to know themselves. One in particular stands out and is the inspiration for this post. His name is Dennis; he is a very beautiful human being with a kind heart. He like many of us has done some things he is not proud of; his fear is that he will find he is ugly!
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I can embrace and understand that fear and see how it may limit many in a way as well as discourage many from seeking the truth about themselves. We all have our own inner demons so to speak that we must confront in order to know who we really are.
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Unfortunately some of the perceptions about ourselves come from places that we hold in high regard such as our religions and our communities as well as those very close to us such as our partners or our family. Guilt is the largest single hurdle for many it seems in truly going deep enough to know who we are. I personally had a difficult time in learning how to deal with guilt and losing the labels as well as the fear placed on my actions and choices by religion and my loved ones.
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Guilt makes us feel ugly and unworthy, to hang our heads in shame and hide our other qualities from the world. With your head hung in shame it is hard to look someone in the eye even yourself in the mirror. Guilt is a form of feedback not a sentence… Take the feedback and modify your thoughts, stop looking at your past choices as sins, or shameful acts and accept that they were perhaps not the best choices to make. They however do not define who you are, that is where the perception of being ugly comes in for Dennis and to be honest it was a slippery slope for me to climb as well. For years I sought relief by confessing my sins and dwelling in shame rather than looking for the beautiful side I was staring at the ugly side mesmerized. My mind screaming somebody find me a Priest, knowing that the Priest could not take away that feeling of guilt or the shame I felt for having done those things that were labeled ugly and sinful.
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My way of helping Dennis as well as a few other people with the same issue lately was to encourage them to look into that mirror deeply and then see what they find. Go within beyond the ugly and see what they find. It takes a great amount of courage to go so deep through that darkness that you find the light on the other side. The beautiful thing is as you do so with the intent of knowing who you really are a light glimmers even if it is faint at first to light your way through that darkness. How we let go of the pain and the guilt for each one of us is different yet as we do so the light grows stronger and the ugly transmutes to beauty.
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So I would like to ask you the questions…
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Do you fear that you are a powerful spiritual being?
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Do you fear that you will find that you are Ugly?
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Do you know who you truly are?
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Are you going to find out?
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How deep inside of you have you traveled? Only as far as your love of yourself has allowed you to go!
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Thank you for allowing me to share a few thoughts and perhaps even some inspiration on your journey to see the beautiful human being you are. I hope you look deep into your eyes in that mirror and tell yourself you are beautiful and love the beautiful you that you see!

Thank you for being you and for making our world a better place for all we share it with you are the positive change our world so needs!

I would like to say thank you for stopping by and allowing me to share a thought or two. I have been reaching for and learning how to find and live my dreams or my new reality as it is. I find that I have much to be grateful for and much to be happy about as I am in the moment as I breathe.

I was once told that I would never find my life in all the books I was reading or all the time I spent in silence or alone. I myself have questioned at times as I looked at my physical material reality and the friends I had lost along the way. I had chosen to change and become a beautiful man and human being, the only way for me to change the person I was, was to know who I was. People at times ask me who do I want to be if not me. I choose to be the best me I can be.

For me to embrace the change and not know how I am getting where I want to be, is a unique feeling kind of scary at times yet I know I will get where I want to go. I believe in and trust in the journey, sometimes as we travel we have a bit of a slip or slide, other times we find the most beautiful coincidences… Synchronicity for me the meeting of spiritual, physical reality or signs confirmation of being where I am supposed to be.

I have been busy lately as I take steps in the direction of my dreams, my new life so to speak. I have started the ground work to connect better through social media and opened an etsy shop. I have been asked to share some of my art in an exhibit and will share a blog post on both as the details become set. I have been reading a number of books lately and will be sharing thoughts on one by a fellow blogger in a couple of days.

All that said, I would like to say, that the blogging world has been and is a gift by sharing with me the gift of my fellow bloggers. Inspiration, joy, knowledge, smiles, beauty, heart and souls, love in many shapes ways and forms… For me well :) Thank you all for being the positive change our world so needs sharing your smiles and love making our world a better place for all we share it with. :) Thanks for sharing your time with me. :) Joe

I share a thought or perhaps a few in a way that is becoming more comfortable than just raw words expressed in a heart felt way. Sometimes emotions are overwhelming and the feeling is one of despair. I am not subject to despair anymore yet can’t help but momentarily feel as if I am slipping. I reached out for a hand the other day as I was finishing up my awards page. My friend reached back and I recovered without falling on the slippery slope I am on.

Last night I went to a spiritual gathering with a friend, it was somewhat like going to a church service without the religious aspects. It was quite intriguing as well as enlightening as the various speakers spoke on their take of spirituality. I listened to the harp being played in the back ground and allowed the energy in the hall to pass through me and must say… The people of our world are for the most part very beautiful.

One of the speakers a specialist in alchemy spoke on the topic of following your dreams, I was quite taken aback by his perspective of not following them as they become nightmares in the end. I wanted to ask him why he shared such a thought yet in listening to his words I understood his logic. Dreams are however not about logic nor is magic nor for that matter is the one gift I most cherish.. Love!

I know not where I am headed in my new adventure in a short time I may be jobless and could even end up on the street again, I am putting much effort into changing my career and my way of contributing to the betterment of myself as well as sharing inspiration and love with my fellow human beings. My contributions to our world are many and I have much more to contribute in a positive way. I may not be the most logical person I do however know that logic doesn’t buy nor does money buy love nor does it buy happiness. I do know that I am happy and even though I don’t have that special lady in my life at the moment I have the greatest gift of all Love of myself and my fellow human beings!

I was reminded about a post shared a few weeks ago that was about following your dreams and not living a JOB Just Over Broke that has been playing in my head over and over. Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer, Teddy Roosevelt was a rancher and Abe Lincoln ran for president and lost many times. Many great people have followed their dreams and with no thought of being logical inspired and shaped the lives of many in a very positive way. Mine included!

Logical or not I follow my dreams and smile! Please share a smile and help make our world a better place for all we share it with. Share a smile and share your love and be the change positive. I am working on responding to the many comments shared form so many beautiful people after my sharing of some love and awards with some 400+ bloggers it took almost four days to post and comment on all of those blogs so please bear with me as I catch up. Thank you all for the many smiles and the time you take sharing them! :)

PS Anyone who would care to share a thought as to where a beautiful human being with a few gifts and talents may find a way to use them and live a dream would be a greatly appreciated help. As Abraham Hicks would say its in the vortex and the circumstances will lead me to meet them perhaps one of you can share with me that circumstance. ;)

I would like to share a thought or two, as I am so moved. I am actually very happy and quite wishing to share why. This Friday a simple me turns a major page at least to me, I am officially to become a published author or perhaps writer is a better choice of words. It’s kind of funny in a way as I didn’t even consider or think about writing anything until a few years ago when my money for a therapist ran out. Homeless divorced and living on what I had left of my unemployment checks after child support was taken out. I was living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cigarettes and faith. My own daughter wouldn’t be seen with me in public as she was embarrassed her dad slept in the WallMart parking lot.

Writing was my therapy and my friend; I had never really thought I would ever share any of what I had written. I also never dreamed I would attempt to write and be published anywhere I to be honest was quite scared of what people would think of what I had to say. I also was afraid to express myself in words on a page, because I was not educated beyond my tenth grade in High School even though I had taken my GED and graduated two years before my class in school. I was that kid that never did homework and always got an A on the tests even though I rarely went to class. I was worried that the educated and literary community would just laugh in my face at my lack of grammatical skills.

I wrote my first poem in a heartbroken state and knew it was a work of art, I chose to post it on a dating site hoping for a sympathetic woman to perhaps hold me in my despair. Funny thing happened; I never got that woman to hold me I did however get a gift. An academic and an English Professor as well as a quite well known poet commented as to what I felt. I had created a beautiful work of art, an expression from my soul as raw and beautiful as a soul can be. Pure honest from the heart poetry in motion, expression that required no education, other than life’s lessons the most beautiful education a simple man or educated one can learn and embrace. I thank her and owe her a debt of gratitude for sharing her thought with me..” A beautiful and well written piece I love your prose!”

I met a lady a few months later as I had to travel to the other side of the country to get a job and be able to live outside of my car. She encouraged me to write and suggested that I write a blog. Writing a blog you can write about whatever you want even things that make you happy. I started writing a blog and things began to change inside of me. I loved to write! As I wrote more and shared more I began to have some confidence in my gift of self-expression. Things in the last few months have changed my life through writing and sharing my soul.

I have recently sat at tables with some very educated people and to share what one of those people shared with me is an honor I cherish. As I sat at a table with an English Professor with a Doctorate in Literature and a Marketing Guru with a Masters in Communication discussing some of my poetry and some other random writings the question of my talent and ability was answered in a way that removed all of my fears. The fact that was shared was one I want to express to all those that may let the fear of education stop them from following and living their dreams. The marketing guru, commented that he was in awe and a little jealous. I asked why and his response touched my heart and took away any thought of fear. I am in awe that you can sit at a table or in a room of very educated people and not only hold your own intellectually you actually educate them. You are an average Joe and your presence and your pure and raw expression brings such an energy that one cannot help but walk away with respect and admire you person.

I have no idea where or if I will end up as far as writing and being published I do know that I am quite proud of being published in the two publications I have been given the gift of being published in. I am happy to be me and been given the opportunity to live and express myself and be accepted by those publications. I can also share the fact that the one person I truly wish would be at the reception and recognition party will most likely not be there. The bitter to compliment the sweet I suppose.

Anyhow I am grateful for the opportunity to share these thoughts and your taking the time to read and share them with me. I would share one more… Anyone can write and we are all poets and philosophers if we share what is pure in our hearts even a simple carpenter can help make our world a better place by sharing the love of his heart and a smile. I hope we can all look inside share a smile and some love expressed in any way even a simple smile as it does make a difference and it does help our world become a better place for all we share it with. Love and be who you are and change our world in a positive way. Thank you for sharing with me.

I will share a poem next as it is National Poetry month. I shared several with my writing group and the poetry group today and felt compelled to share as I did here another side of beautiful me!

I choose to share a few thoughts and some of the things that have been happening in my little part of the world. It is a great thing when positive change happens in my life and in truth even the negatives become positives most of the time. I have been very busy trying to change my life for the better in every way. I am an optimist and a living caring and sharing individual.

In the last couple of weeks I signed the forms to be published in two different publications and became a writing mentor in the local Creative Writing Center. None of these gifts carries a financial reward yet all give me a far greater award, especially the mentoring as I will be involved with many aspiring writers and many who enjoy expressing themselves with words. To be chosen for publication and one in particular is going on National tour along with other works of great merit by other local Authors is a cherished gift.

I also competed in the Veterans Creative Writing Festival; it was for me quite an experience as it was my first competition. It was also my first time on camera reading in front of an audience. What a gift, and I looked Fabulous as well as felt fabulous. I took a Blue Ribbon and a Red ribbon for my entries and may be chosen for the VA Magazine and be published there as well.

In addition to that I have been planning and creating a custom poetry shop that has been a challenge and is in the works however I am still searching for a graphic designer to work with me on the overall page design and layout. I may get luck and one of my aspiring writer friends will have a friend..

One last item that may be of interest is I joined the Utah State Poetry Society which also includes joining the National Poetry Society. That I may learn share and grow with local and national poets in turn making me a better artist.

Either way I felt that sharing these few things that are happening in my life would help some understand my lack of presence here lately. Classes and groups as well as my day job are keeping me busy. I do however see some light at the end of the tunnel. One day in the not too distant future I may be writing and living a more fulfilling and passionate life doing something I love. Writing and helping people by inspiring them to share and grow as well as express themselves in a positive way as I learn grow and share in a positive way with them.Then I can lose the day job and write more especially here!

Thank you for allowing me to share a thought or two and share a smile perhaps. Please share your smiles and your love and help change our world in a positive way for all we share it with. Thank you for taking the time to share with me. J